Elastic loop launcher



April 8, 1969 A. c. HYTER 3,437,084

ELASTIC LOOP LAUNCHER Filed Dec. 22. 1965 A 4 INVENTOR. 5% ALFRED c.HYTER United States Patent 3,437,084 ELASTIC LOOP LAUNCHER Alfred C.Hyter, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Alaron Pattern & Model, Inc., Toledo,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 515,639 Int.Cl. F41b 7/08; F41f 7/00 US. Cl. 124-49 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention is related to elastic loop launchersgenerally, and more particularly to devices for shooting elastic loopssuch as rubber bands from a hand held device shaped and responding inthe manner of a pistol.

The design of projectile launchers for childrens play, games for allages, and general pastime has been the goal of craftsmen since theadvent of the first crude projectile launchers used for hunting, warfareand the like. However, such toy guns, bow and arrows, and other designshave in the past accomplished their purpose with such effectiveness thatthe projectiles being launched were dangerous to those using them or totheir companions. If such success has not been achieved, then the toyhas failed to such an extent that it loses its attractiveness for playpurposes.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an elastic looplauncher which is successful in being able to reliably release anddirect one or more stretched elastic loops or rubber bands to a targetwithin a reasonable range, and which allows the use of smaller elasticloops or rubber bands so that in the event of misuse damage will notoccur to persons or objects within the range of the launcher.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved elasticloop launcher which is accurate, simple to operate, inexpensive toconstruct, reliable in its operation, and capable of withstanding asevere degree of abuse as might be given by very small children.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved elasticloop launcher which is capable of releasing a plurality of elastic loopsor rubber bands one after the other at spaced intervals or to releasethe plurality of elastic loops in rapid fire sequence.

Apparatus for accomplishing the above objects features in the preferredembodiment shown herein an elastic loop launcher comprising an elongatedcarrier means having a pair of spaced stop means adapted to retain astretched elastic loop. A release means is disposed intermediate thepair of stop means and has a cam surface. Means are provided for movingthe release means and the carrier means with respect to each other toengage one end of the elastic loop with the cam surface on the releasemeans and urge the engaged loop end off of its stop means therebylaunching the stretched elastic loop into flight past the other stopmeans. The carrier means may comprise a main body means and a rod-likeextension carrying one of the pair of stop means. The release means maybe slidably supported on the rod-like extension With its cam surfacefacing the stop means. Guide means for the release means may comprise amale guide means attached to one of the carrier and release means, andfemale guide means may be formed in the other of the carrier and releasemeans to recive and guide the male guide means. The main body may beformed to provide a hand grip for the launcher. The male guide means maybe attached to the release means and the female guide means formed inthe main body. Means may be further utilized which depend from the maleguide means, as it extends through the main body, for finger engagementto move the release means to urge an elastic loop off of its stop meansfor launching.

The cam engageable stop means may comprise a slot cut into the carrier,which slot may have a retaining side forming at least a angle with thedirection of flight of the elastic loop. The other stop means may alsocomprise a slot formed in the carrier, advantageously having one sidesubstantially parallel to the plane formed by the stretched elastic loopengaged thereby. The cam surface is advantageously an inclined planewith respect to the cam engageable stop means. For the smoothesttriggering the inclined plane cam surface and the cam engageable stopslot may form an angle of substantially 90.

In the embodiment shown, the carrier means may comprise an elongatedrod-like means. The release means may have an aperture formed therein toreceive the rod-like means and slide thereon. Means such as a hand gripmay be provided for supporting the rod-like carrier and the supportingmeans may have a stop surface formed thereon to limit the travel of therelease means on the rod-like means. The release means may have asubstantially fiat surface formed thereon to slidably engage a similarlysubstantially flat surface formed on one of the rod-like means andsupport means to prevent rotation of the release means on the rod-likemeans. If the device is provided with the mutually engageablesubstantially flat surfaces for the release means and the rod-like meansor support means then a guide means such as described above is notnecessary. However, to aid in the ease of moving the release means toengage stretched elastic loops and to better simulate the action of ahand weapon, a driving rod may be secured to the release means, the mainbody having an aperture formed therethrough to slidably receive thedriving rod. The driving rod will then extend through the main body anddepending triggerlike means may be secured to the driving rod for fingerengagement for reciprocably moving the driving rod in the apertureformed in the main body, and thus also moving the release means tolaunch the elastic loops as desired.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will becomemore apparent when the following description is taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a device embodying the teachingsof this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in perspective of the device illustrated in FIGURE 1having some of the moving parts separated to better illustrate theoperation thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a side view in elevation of the carrier means for thestretched elastic loops and the hand grip support means for the carriermeans; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of a release means suitable for usewith the device in FIGURE 3.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an elastic loop launcherwhich comprises an elongated carrier means generally indicated at 10. Inthe embodiment shown, the carrier means comprises a main body means 12having rod-like extensions 11 extending from each side thereof. Therod-like extensions 11 may be one dowelshaped rod extending all the waythrough the main body 12 and may be rounded, square, hexagonal, etc., incross section depending upon the esthetic appearance desired.

Stop means for the stretched elastic loop are provided on the carriermeans and are spaced to retain the elastic loop in place once it hasbeen stretched and placed thereon. One stop means 21 may be formed as aslot on the left end of the carrier means 11. One side of the slot orstop means 21 may be formed substantially parallel to the plane formedby the loop stretched through the slot to aid in guiding the elasticloop in the direction of aim of the rod-like carrier 11. Both sides ofthe slot may be made substantially parallel. Alternatively, a slot maynot need be required at all since the left end of the rod-likecarriermay be used as a stop means simply by snubbing an elastic loopthereover. However, some reliability is lost with this method,particularly when loading the device with a plurality of stretchedelastic loops.

At the other end or right of the rod-like carrier 11 a plurality of stopmeans or slots 22 are formed in the carier 11. When loading the devicewith a plurality of elastic loops, one end of the first loop is placedin slot 21 while the other end of the elastic loop is placed in the slot22 furthest from the slot 21. Successive loops are similarly placed inslot 21 and in successive slots 22 moving toward the left. This enablesthe elastic loops to be discharged successively, one at a time withoutinterfering with the remainder of the loops stretched on the carrier.

A release means generally indicated at 30 is disposed intermediate thepair of stop means and has a cam surface 31. In the embodiment shownherein, the release means has an aperture 34 formed therein to receivethe carrier means 11 and slide thereon. Details of the release means arebest seen in FIGURE 4. When the release means is journally mounted onthe rod 11, there is provided a substantially fiat surface 18 on thebody or hand grip portion 13 and a similarly substantially fiat surface33 on the under side of the release means 30. These two substantiallyflat surfaces are slidably engageable and act in conjunction with thecarrier 11 extending through the aperture 34 formed in the release meansas a guide means for reciprocable action of the release means 30. Ifanother design is desired in which it is not convenient to place theflat surfaces .18 and 313 on either the release means or the main bodyof the elastic loop launcher, the triggering means which will bedescribed hereinafter may also be utilized as a guide means. That is, amale guide means 36 may be secured to the release means 30 and receivedby an aperture 14 formed through the main body 12 of the carrier means.The action of the male guide means 36 and the female guide aperture 14in conjunction with the similar action of the rod-like carrier 11 andthe aperture 34 formed in the release means 30 acts to guide the releasemeans 30 back and forth on the rod-like carrier 11 without rotation ofthe release means 30 on the rod-like carrier 11.

A stop surface 19 formed on the main body 12 engages a similar stopsurface on the release means 32 to limit the travel of the release means30 on the rod-like carrier 11. It will be noted that the main body 12has a cut-out portion, defined here by flat surfaces 18 and 19, toreceive and conform to similar surfaces 33 and 32 of the release meansso that the release means appears to be an integral part of the carrier11, main body 12 and hand grip 13 providing a pleasing appearance to thearticle very similar to a real hand weapon.

Referring again to the cam surface 31 on the release means 30, it willbe noted that the cam surface 31 is formed to act as an inclined planewith respect to the slots 22. That is, as the inclined plane cam surface31 moves to the right the surface 31 may engage an elastic loop lodgedin a slot 22 and urge this engaged end up out of one of the slots 22Without touching or effecting the next successive loop engaged in theadjacent slot or stop means formed on the carrier means. The mostadvantageous construction of the inclined plane surface 31 with respectto the slot means 22 requires that the angle formed between the linesdefined by the slot and the inclined plane surface is substantially asnoted in FIG- URE 1. This provides the smoothest triggering of each ofthe elastic loops as they are urged from their position in the stopmeans. It is to be noted that instead of slots as shown at 21 and 22that pins or other stop means may be utilized in conjunction with thecarrier 11 to retain the stretched elastic loops in position. However,the pres ent embodiment reflects that most desirable esthetic approachwhile not providing any protrusions from the weapon to scratch personsor objects, or to be knocked or broken off of the device.

Referring again to FIGURE 4, there is illustrated a driving means forthe release means 30 which comprises a. driving rod 36 secured to therelease means 30 and adapted to be slidably received by the aperture 14formed through the man body 12 of the carrier. As may best be seen inFIGURE 2, the aperture 14 formed through the main body 12 of the carrierhas had one side opened through a milled or otherwise formed slot 15.The slot 15 extends from the bore 14 downwardly through the main body 12and provides open communication between the bore 14 and the under sideof the main body 12. The slot 15 is milled from the left side of thebody 12 to a stop surface 17 formed in the main body of the carrier. Toaid in moving the driving rod 36 and thus the release means 30, adepending trigger or strut 37 is secured to the driving rod 36. Thedepending trigger 37 is positioned on the driving rod 36 to enablefinger engagement by the hand that is gripping the launcher at the grip13. As the finger is tightened toward the hand, the trigger 37 and thusthe driving rod 36 and release means 30 are moved to the right in thedrawings and the elastic loops are urged from the stop means 22successively as the inclined plane surface 31 encounters and urges themtherefrom.

There has thus been described a preferred embodiment of an elastic looplauncher which is reliable, esthetically pleasing, accurate, and able tostand up under long usage and hard abuse. It should be noted thatalthough only the embodiment shown has been described in detail that thedescription has been broadened to cover other modifications and methodsof construction. The terminology used herein and in the claims isintended to cover all means for moving an inclined plane surface tosuccessively urge stretched elastic loops from stop means retaining theloops. For example, the release means need not be a piece positioned atthe rear of the launcher, but may be formed in saddle shape and slideatop the rod-like carrier, constituting in appearance the upper portionof the main body. Guides in the form of engaging fingers and slots maybe used to insure the retention of the saddle shaped release means tothe carrier and body.

It is apparent, therefore, that within the scope of the invention,modifications and different arrangements may be made other than asherein disclosed, and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, theinvention comprehending all variations thereof.

What I claim is:

1. An elastic loop launcher comprising an elongated carrier means havinga pair of spaced stop means adapted to retain a stretched elastic loop,a release means disposed intermediate said pair of stop means and havinga cam surface, and means for moving said release means and said carriermeans with respect to each other to engage one end of said elastic loopwith said cam surface and urge said engaged loop end off of its stopmeans, thereby launching said stretched elastic loop into flight pastthe other stop means, said carrier means including an elongated rod-likemeans, said cam surface of said release means surrounding said rod-likemeans and having an aperture formed through said cam surface to receivesaid rod-like means and slide thereon thus enabling the cam surface tocompletely lift said one end from engagement with and above its stopmeans to insure an accurate flight past the other stop means, thecoaction between surfaces of the release aperture and the rod-like meansadjacent said cam surface insuring a reliable discharge repeatabilityfor consistent results.

2. An elastic loop launcher as defined in cliam 1 which further includesan additional male guide means attached to one of said carrier andrelease means, and an additional female guide means formed in the otherof said carrier and release means to receive said male guide means, saidadditional male and female guide means cooperating with said rod-camsurface aperture assembly to further insure consistent loop launching.

3. An elastic loop launcher as defined in claim 2 which further includesa main body portion on said carrier means formed to provide a hand gripfor said launcher, said male guide means being attached to said releasemeans, said female guide means being formed in said main body, andfurther including trigger means for finger engagement to move said maleguide means and thus said release means.

4. An elastic loop launcher as defined in cliarn 1 in which said camsurface is formed as an inclined plane with respect to said cam end stopmeans, said inclined plane cam surface and said cam end stop meansdefining an angle of substantially ninety degrees.

5. An elastic loop launcher comprising an elongated carrier means havinga pair of spaced stop means adapted to retain a stretched elastic loop,a release means disposed intermediate said pair of stop means and havinga cam surface, and means for moving said release means and said carriermeans with respect to each other to engage one end of said elastic loopwith said cam surface and urge said engaged loop end off of its stopmeans thereby launching said elastic loop into flight past the otherstop means, said carrier means comprising a rod-like means; main bodymeans for supporting said rod means; said main body means being formedwith a hand grip below said rod means; said rod means extending on bothsides of said main body; said release means having an aperture formedtherein to receive and slide on one of said rod-like extensions; saidmain body having a cut-out formed therein shaped to receive and conformto said release means as said release means slides along said onerod-like extension and abuts against said main body; said main bodyhaving at least one substantially flat surface formed in said cut-outportion and said release means having at least one substantially fiatsurface formed thereon, said flat surfaces being mutually slidablyengageable to prevent rotation of said release means on said rod-likeextension.

6. An elastic loop launcher as defined in claim 5 which further includesa driving rod secured to said release means, said main body having anaperture formed therethrough to slidably receive said driving rod, saiddriving rod extending through said main body, and means secured to saiddriving rod for reciprocably moving said driving rod in said apertureformed in said main body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,287,266 6/1942 Ostrander 124-18X 2,462,723 2/1949 Cmich 124-19 2,529,047 11/1950 Paul 124-19 2,680,4346/1954 Lodahl.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner.

MAX R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner.

